


Motionless

by rathernotmyname



Series: Fictober! 2020 [3]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Dark Army Massacre inside the Washington Township Plant, Fictober! Day 3, Gen, Post-Episode: s04e11, Qwerty lives because I said so, okay so, the graphical violence isn't really graphical but I'm being cautious here for obvious reasons, you get my point right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rathernotmyname/pseuds/rathernotmyname
Summary: The aftermath of S04E11, from an outsider's perspective.(My self-named "Qwerty lives because I said so" AU.)
Series: Fictober! 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050200
Kudos: 3





	Motionless

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note:  
> I DO NOT CONSENT TO MY WORK BEING HOSTED OR REPOSTED ON ANY UNOFFICIAL APPS OR WEBSITES OTHER THAN ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN WITHOUT MY APPROVAL, PARTICULARLY APPS WITH AD REVENUE AND SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES.

Chief Robert “Bobby” Thornton had seen countless horrific scenes in his long career with the New Jersey fire department, but the massacre in the Washington Township nuclear plant made him close his eyes in grief more than once. 

It had been a slaughter, plain and simple. A whole goddamn queue of yet to be identified bodies was lined up outside, and they still brought up more. 

And the worst thing was that the cause of so many deaths hadn’t even been the explosion that had made all alarm sirens sing their chilling song. As far as the seven coroners on scene could tell, they had all died minutes up to hours before; and there was enough evidence inside that told of the horror that had taken place.

Wherever Bobby looked – bullet holes over bullet holes, kicked-in doors after kicked-in doors, then more bullet holes and slowly drying puddles of blood on the office carpets. The Christmas decorations everywhere seemed to mock them. 

He sighed and signaled two paramedics to gather another body. 

A call of his name beckoned him to the staircase, where his brave men and women had made their way through the worst of the debris caused by the explosion. (He’d have loved to know what had caused it, but that wasn’t his problem.) 

“We found another room,” his Assistant Chief explained to him as he entered the lowest level, squinting through the visor of his radiation protection suit. 

Technically, the suits where unnecessary because the plant itself hadn’t taken any damage, but nobody particularly wanted to take the risk. 

“The doors are locked, but we think we can break through with a bit of patience. It’s possible that this part of the building was armored somehow. A control room, perhaps.”

“Unlikely. The plans didn’t show and control rooms around here.”

“They didn’t show the giant hall with the weird machine inside, either.”

They walked down the hallway in grim silence. Said machine was a total write-off, too destroyed to discern what it had been for. 

“How’s it going, boys?” Bobby asked as soon as they came in view of the yet unopened door.

“A few more hits, and we’re through,” Lieutenant Arredano reported, lifting the ax in her hand and let it crash down onto the weak parts of the enforced door.

She was right, after a few more joined hits and a few rounds with the ram, the door gave a dying screech and let itself be shoved open. 

The room was surprisingly empty, and the floor curiously wet. Bobby spotted two figures laying on the ground next to each other, one turned on their side, the other sprawled on their back. He sighed.

“Get some paramedics down here,” he told his AC, even though he knew that it was too late for them. The body to his right had obviously died of a well-placed shot in the head, the gun was lying on the ground.

Bobby frowned and squatted down next to the victim, a woman in a long, white dress. The angle of where the gun had landed was... strange. It almost looked like—

“Suicide,” Lieutenant Arredano said, clicking her tongue in resigned horror. 

Bobby shook his head, turning his gaze to the other body, a man, face pale and eyelids bruised. He had probably been thrown against the glass wall next to him with enough force to break it. Poor guy. 

The more Bobby took in of the small room, now doused in bright lights from the lamps his team had brought, the more uneasy he felt. It contained only the two bodies, two chairs and a desk, and… was that an C64 computer? Even though the room was quite small and filled with five people, he felt unbearably lonely all of a sudden, and he held back a relieved breath when his AC broke the oppressing silence by speaking into his walkie-talkie to order a few paramedics down to them. 

“That is one god-awful tapestry,” Lieutenant Arredano snorted suddenly, splashing through the puddles with protection-suit heavy steps. “And why the hell is this computer here? Or the book?”

“Mysteries, mysteries…”

Bobby couldn’t help a wry grin. Trust his people to make jokes in situations like this. He couldn’t deny that he was glad about it, though.

With a last look to the weird empty square-shaped space behind the cracked glass and the two bodies, he stood up and moved to leave the room behind, desperate to get back to sunlight and fresh air.

A shout of surprise stopped him in his tracks.

“Hey! This one’s still breathing!”

Bobby flew back to where one of his men had knelt over the second victim, ear over his face to listen to his breath, index finger pressed to his neck.

“Well done, Sergeant,” he praised, very annoyed about his own slip of mind. “Good thinking to check the pulse. I’m getting too old for this job.”

“Oh no, sir,” the boy stuttered, but Bobby clapped his shoulder and took his walkie-talkie to spread the good news. 

He settled down next to the unconscious man. “Don’t worry, everything’ll be just fine,” he told him, knowing that the other couldn’t hear him and wondering if he had done it for solely his own comfort.

As the paramedics quickly provided first aid and carried the young man out on a stretcher, Bobby heard a strange sound coming from somewhere on the floor. He followed it, stepping into deeper puddles in the process. The closer he got, the more he could discern the sound as an irregular splashing. After a few more steps, he came to a stand and stared at the source of the sound.

There, on the ground, flopping around hectically in one of the deeper puddles, was a little black fish. 

Bobby stared at the poor thing in astonishment. What was the fish doing here? 

“Arredano,” he said, beckoning her to him. “Please get me a glass of water somewhere.” 

She complied and returned with the requested item at an impressive speed. With careful, gloved fingers, Bobby scooped up the flailing fish and put it into the glass. It swam in circles, visibly relieved. 

“Aren’t you a little survivor,” Arredano told the fish, white teeth gleaming behind her visor in a wide smile. Bobby couldn’t help but agree. 

With a last look around this strange room and the inexplainable feeling of victory, Bobby left the plant behind, carrying the fish with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Qwerty lives! Because I Do Not Accept. I am in Denial.  
> I hope you liked my firefighters :)  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
